December 14
1800s *1882 - At its first annual convention, the American Association establishes the first permanent staff of umpires in major league history. Previously, the National League and AA umpires were local men hired on game day by the home club. 1900s *1900 - Suffering from a drop in attendance in 1900, National League owners vote to cut costs with a 16-player limit after May 1. The Players Association claims the move is aimed at pressuring players into signing by shrinking the number of jobs. *1901 - Suffering from too much infighting and no leadership, four National League clubs elect A.G. Spalding as president. Two days later, a court voids the election and enjoins him from serving, and he will eventually quit. *1904 - The Philadelphia Phillies send pitcher Chick Fraser and third baseman Harry Wolverton to the Boston Beaneaters for pitcher Togie Pittinger. 1910s *1911: **Pittsburgh Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss proposes that each team in the World Series be required to turn over one-fourth of its share of the gate to the league, to be divided among the other teams. Until now, ten percent of the gross went to the National Commission, 60 percent to the players, and the rest to the two pennant-winning clubs. The National League will pass the resolution and send it to the American League. It marks the beginning of changes that ultimately give players of the first four clubs a percentage of the World Series money. **The earned run average (ERA) is adopted as an official statistic. *1914 - Former New York Giants mascot (and "pitcher") Charlie (Victory) Faust is confined to the Western Hospital for the Insane. He will die there of pulmonary tuberculosis on June 15, 1915. *1916 - The Chicago Cubs swap OF Joe Kelly to the Boston Braves for coach Fred Mitchell, who will become Chicago's new manager. *1917 - Connie Mack and his Philadelphia Athletics need money. He sells P Joe Bush, C Wally Schang, and OF Amos Strunk to the Boston Red Sox for P Vean Gregg, OF Merlin Kopp, C Pinch Thomas, and $60,000. 1920s *1922: **In a joint meeting, the ban on nonwaiver trades after June 15 is approved. The National League favors a 50-player limit until June 15, the American League votes for 40. Judge Landis breaks the deadlock in favor of 40. Compensation of World Series umpires is changed from a percentage of the players' pool to a flat $2,000. **Still smarting over the rejection of the official scorer's decision in the Ty Cobb case, the national baseball writers' group meets and votes to back the New York group's protest. Fred Lieb, who had filled in the Associated Press box score giving Cobb the disputed hit, asks Ban Johnson to revise the records to .399 for Cobb. Johnson complains of not receiving box scores from some writers, who are appointed by the clubs as official scorers. 1930s *1932: **William A. Heydler is elected to another four-year term as president of the National League. **The Washington Senators trade Sam West, Lloyd Brown, Carl Reynolds, and $20.000 cash to the St. Louis Browns for Goose Goslin, Fred Schulte, and Lefty Stewart. Washington also get Earl Whitehill from the Detroit Tigers for Firpo Marberry and Carl Fischer. *1933: **Goose Goslin of the Washington Senators is send to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for John Stone. **In an extended trade, the St. Louis Browns acquire Smead Jolley, Ivy Andrews, and $40,000 from the Boston Red Sox for Carl Reynolds. St. Louis then sends Jolley, plus Jim Levey and Wally Hebert to Hollywood (PCL) for Alan Strange. Strange will go to the Senators for Lyn Lary before the end of the season. Levey, meanwhile, will return east in the fall to join the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he will play halfback for three seasons. *1935 - Firpo Marberry resigns as American League umpire to sign with the New York Giants as a pitcher. *1938 - Major league teams adopt several resolutions. The National League allows the Cincinnati Reds to play their season opener one day before other teams, as a way of honoring the 100th anniversary of baseball and of the 1869 Red Stockings being the first professional team. In other news, Will Harridge is re-elected as American League president and given a 10-year term. The AL permits the Cleveland Indians and Philadelphia Athletics to play night games. Finally, ML agree on a standard ball but disagree on increasing rosters from 23 to 25 players. Judge Landis will eventually decide on 25. 1940s *1948: **The Cleveland Indians acquire future Hall of Fame pitcher Early Wynn and first baseman Mickey Vernon from the Washington Senators for first baseman Eddie Robinson and pitchers Joe Haynes and Eddie Klieman. Vernon will go back to Washington in 1950 but Wynn will stay in Cleveland and will win 163 games for the Indians over the next nine seasons. **It's a busy day for the Phillies as the team purchases pitcher Ken Trinkle from the Giants and trade pitchers Walter Dubiel and Dutch Leonard to the Cubs for first baseman Eddie Waitkas and pitcher Hank Borowy. Ruth Ann Steinhagen, a Chicago female fan totally obsessed with former Cub Waitkas, is very upset with the trade and will try to kill him upon his return to Wrigley Field with the Phillies. *1949: **In a major trade, the New York Giants get Alvin Dark and Eddie Stanky from the Boston Braves in a swap for Willard Marshall, Sid Gordon, Buddy Kerr and Sam Webb. **The Cubs send pitcher Bill Voiselle and $35,000 to the Braves for infielder Gene Mauch. The Cubs had hoped to come away with Warren Spahn or Johnny Antonelli. 1950s *1950 - MLB owners choose Lou Perini (Braves), Phil Wrigley (Cubs), Del Webb (Yankees) and Ellis Ryan (Indians) to select a new commissioner as soon as possible. In a close vote, 9-7, Happy Chandler's contract was not renewed three days earlier to serve a third term as baseball's leader. *1953 - Detroit Tigers shortstop Harvey Kuenn, who hit .308 for the season, is voted American League Rookie of the Year. 1960s *1960 - The two new American League franchises, the first expansion teams in over a half of a century, select their rosters in the first ever expansion draft. The Los Angeles Angels make New York Yankees pitcher Eli Grba the first selection of the draft, and the 'new' Washington Senators follow by tabbing another Yankee pitcher, Bobby Shantz. Among the Angels selections also are Jim Fregosi (SS), Ted Kluszewski (1B) and Albie Pearson (OF). Washington selections include Chuck Hinton (OF), Gene Woodling (OF) and Hal Woodeshick (P). *1961 - Roger Maris' request for a $75,000 contract is denied by New York Yankees GM Roy Hamey. *1963 - The Pittsburgh Pirates send pitcher Harvey Haddix to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for infielder Dick Yencha and cash. *1965 - Eddie Stanky is named manager of the Chicago White Sox. *1966 - The St. Louis Cardinals send OF Walt Williams and P Don Dennis to the Chicago White Sox for C John Romano and P Lee White. 1970s *1970 - St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Herman Hill drowns in the Caribbean, near Valencia, Venezuela, at age 25. Hill had been traded from the Twins on October 20. *1976 - The San Diego Padres sign veteran free agents Rollie Fingers and Gene Tenace, who helped the Oakland Athletics to three World Championships from 1972 to 1974. *1977 - The Texas Rangers re-acquire future Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins from the Boston Red Sox for pitcher John Poloni and cash. Jenkins, who won only 10 games in 1977, will put together an 18-win season for the Rangers in 1978. 1980s *1982: **The San Francisco Giants trade second baseman Joe Morgan and pitcher Al Holland to the Philadelphia Phillies for pitchers Mike Krukow and Mark Davis and a minor leaguer. **The St. Louis Cardinals swap blue ribbon prospects Bobby Meacham and Stan Javier to the New York Yankees for three minor leaguers. Some observers think this is a lagniappe to New York for sending Willie McGee to the Cardinals last year in exchange for pitcher Bob Sykes. *1985 - Former major league star Roger Maris dies from cancer at the age of 51. In 1961, Maris set a major league record by hitting 61 home runs. Considered an excellent all-around outfielder, Maris won two American League MVP awards during his career. 1990s *1994: **Labor talks headed by federal mediator Bill Usery break down. **The Philadelphia Phillies sign free agent Gregg Jefferies to a four-year contract worth $20 million. **The New York Yankees obtain pitcher Jack McDowell from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for minor league P Keith Heberling and a player to be named later (Lyle Mouton). **IF/OF Tim Costo is obtained by the Cleveland Indians from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for SS Mark Lewis. *1995 - Free agent Lance Johnson signs a two-year pact with the New York Mets for a reportedly worth more than five million dollars. Johnson led the American League in hits last season with 186. **The Cleveland Indians sign free agent P Jack McDowell to a two-year contract. **The Baltimore Orioles sign free agent P Randy Myers to a two-year contract. **The Boston Red Sox sign free agent C Mike Stanley. **The Florida Marlins sign free agent P Al Leiter to a three-year contract. **The Texas Rangers sign free agent OF Darryl Hamilton. **The St. Louis Cardinals trade pitchers Allen Watson, Rich DeLucia and Doug Creek to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for SS Royce Clayton. *1996 - The Boston Red Sox sign veteran outfielder Shane Mack to a one-year deal. Mack played the last two seasons in Japan. *1998 - Day transactions: Minnesota trade OF Alex Ochoa to the Brewers in exchange for a player to be named; the Mets trade OF Butch Huskey to Seattle in exchange for P Lesli Brea; OF Brant Brown, whose error on September 24 almost cost the a playoff spot, is send to the Pirates in exchange for P Jon Lieber; Marlins SS Edgar Rentería is obtained by the Cardinals in exchange for SS Pablo Ozuna and pitchers Armando Almanza and Braden Looper; Detroit sign free agent C Bill Haselman to a two-year contract, and the Royals sign free agent C Chad Kreuter. *1999 - Day transactions: Pittsburgh sign free agent OF Wil Cordero to a three-year contract worth $9 million; the Royals sign free agent C Brian Johnson to a contract; in a swap of unrelated Everetts, the Boston Red Sox obtain OF Carl Everett from the Astros in exchange for SS Adam Everett and P Greg Miller, and the Royals also obtain OF Todd Dunwoody from the Marlins in exchange for 1B Sean McNally. 2000s *2000: **The Chicago White Sox obtain shortstop Royce Clayton from the Texas Rangers in exchange for pitchers Aaron Myette and Brian Schmack. Clayton became expendable after the signing of the Alex Rodriguez. **St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Fernando Tatis and pitcher Britt Reames are traded to the Montreal Expos for pitchers Dustin Hermanson and Steve Kline. **Free agent relief pitcher Mike Jackson is signed by the Houston Astros. *2001: **Needing to fill the void of a left-handed power hitter created by Jason Giambi's departure to the Yankees, Oakland trade reliever Mark Guthrie and a minor leaguer to the Mets for OF/DH David Justice. The Mets had acquired Justice only a week ago in a deal which sent third baseman Robin Ventura to the Yankees. **A federal judge upholds an arbitrator's decision that ordered MLB to rehire nine of the 22 umpires who lost their jobs following a failed mass resignation two years ago. **The San Francisco Giants sign free agent pitcher Jason Schmidt to a $31-million four-year deal. After being traded by Pittsburgh, Schmidt was 7-1 for San Francisco last season. *2004 - The District of Columbia Council's decision requiring private financing for at least fifty percent of the construction costs of the Washington Nationals new ballpark may jeopardize the team's tenure in Washington, D.C. The 7-6 vote in favor of this new provision clearly breaks the agreement MLB negotiated with the city to land the former Montreal Expos franchise in the nation's capital. Births *1873 - Honest John Anderson, outfielder (d. 1949) *1889 - Lefty Tyler, pitcher (d. 1953) *1901 - Les Bell, infielder (d. 1985) *1905 - Bob Weiland, pitcher (d. 1988) *1913 - Eddie Smith, All-Star pitcher (d. 1994) *1921 - Bobby Adams, infielder (d. 1997) *1925 - Sad Sam Jones, All-Star pitcher (d. 1971) *1938 - Ken Hunt, pitcher *1949 - Bill Buckner, All-Star OF/1B *1961 - Jeff Robinson, pitcher *1965 - Craig Biggio, All-Star infielder *1965 - Ken Hill, All-Star pitcher *1969 - Scott Hatteberg, C/1B *1969 - Dave Nilsson, All-Star C/1B *1974 - Billy Koch, pitcher *1975 - Rodrigo López, pitcher *1977 - Dan Wright, pitcher *1978 - Dave Gassner, pitcher *1981 - Shaun Marcum, pitcher Deaths *1944 - Jouett Meekin, pitcher (b. 1867) *1970 - Herman Hill, outfielder (b. 1945) *1980 - Elston Howard, All-Star catcher (b. 1929) *1985 - Roger Maris, All-Star outfielder (b. 1934) *1997 - Frank Baumholtz, outfielder (b. 1918) *2004 - Danny Doyle, catcher (b. 1917) *2004 - Rod Kanehl, infielder (b. 1934)